


Midgardian Sorcery

by GrangeLady



Category: Merlin (TV), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: AU, And a bodyguard?, But not to Arthur, Cultural Differences, F/M, He already knew, M/M, Magic Revealed, Magic is THE big secret, Magic is a big secret, Merlin is an Avenger, Modern AU, Tags to be added as I actually write the bits they refer to, eventually, sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-07
Updated: 2013-10-27
Packaged: 2017-12-10 18:08:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/788605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrangeLady/pseuds/GrangeLady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an alternate timeline where Loki never attacked, Asgard's magic makes SHIELD curious. Cue a surprisingly fruitful search for Midgard's equivalent. </p>
<p>Merlin is the bodyguard and friend of Prince Arthur, heir to the throne of England, and he's about to be recruited. </p>
<p>Or: Magic exists, but Coulson wasn't supposed to be able to find that out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alone in a Crowded Room

Merlin usually enjoyed the parties he was forced to attend as Arthur's 'dearest friend'. The cameras, the dancing, the never-ending series of women he had to gently disengage from His Highness... Thrilling. Whenever he found his spirits sagging more than he could manage, he would look over to wherever Morgana was charming the crowd. It was impossible to feel put-upon when he saw his friend wearing one of the colourful tubes of satin that she hated so much. He would never admit to having fun at her expense, but it was difficult not to feel a bit smug when you're really just wearing your normal clothes in nicer fabric.

He had to admit it, though: this one wasn't as bad as they usually were. Arthur had spent the few minutes they'd been here chatting with the businessman who was throwing the party. They had met Tony Stark many times before (they tended to meet influential people in the course of Arthur's dutiful social life) and he, to Merlin's surprise, had remembered Merlin's name. 

"Hey, Prince Charming. Glad you could make it." Stark put his hand out, and Arthur shook it. The American didn't bow, instead looking over Arthur's shoulder. "And your friend too! Martin, I think you should go get a drink." Well, he'd almost remembered his name. "Your liege looks parched. He's dehydrating." 

Merlin smiled. _Git._ "Would you like a drink, Your Highness?" 

"I've just had one, actually." Stark looked hurt, pouting comically. "Though another isn't out of the question, of course. Merlin, would you mind..?" 

"Of course not. Should I get you one too, Mr Stark?" Merlin's smile was brittle around the edges. "Two whiskies?" 

On his way to the bar, Merlin spotted Morgana off to one side, looking as beautiful as she always did. She was wearing a dress of such light blue it looked almost white where its crinkles caught the light, cut to the knee and with the three-quarter sleeves that had become her trademark. This striking figure with her dark hair falling over her back like some vision from the Gods, difficult as it was to believe, was standing alone. Well, the room was so full that there were several people just a few feet from her, but none were even glancing her way. 

"You're doing your 'servant' bit, then?" she asked when Merlin approached her with a drink in each hand. A burst of familiar laughter from across the room told him that he hadn't been missed just yet. 

"Yes, much like you're supposed to be doing your 'princess' bit." Morgana had the decency to look slightly ashamed. "Surely there's someone here who doesn't make you want to drown yourself in your wine?" 

"No, there probably is. The problem is that to find out who's not going to bore me to death, I need to risk a conversation with them. See my problem?" 

Merlin sighed. He could feel Morgana's magic surrounding them, keeping people from noticing them or hearing their conversation, but she couldn't stay in her bubble all evening. Gaius would pitch a fit when he found out. "Have you talked to our host at least?"

Morgana perked up at that. "Stark's actually here? I thought he hadn't come out of his lab in eight months or something." 

"No, he was out of the country for eight months. He was in his lab until about half an hour ago, and has been in the same room as you for the past... oh, fifteen minutes?" Merlin gestured toward the spot where the crowd was thickest. "I can introduce you if you like." 

They stepped out of their quiet spot, Merlin leading with ice clinking inside both glasses, and made it halfway to Arthur and Stark before the evening went to hell.


	2. Modern Architecture

Modern architecture sometimes made Merlin's job a lot easier than it might be. If someone wanted to attempt murder while hiding in a centuries-old maze of fluted pillars, forgotten doors, and spiral staircases, it was often a damn sight more convenient for them than in an open-plan cube made of plastiglass and recycled car parts. The squad of security people who went ahead of their every engagement to check for 'hostiles' seldom found anything. It was even rarer that Merlin had to step in and keep Arthur safe, but on the few occasions he'd been needed, he was glad it had been in newer buildings. There was something queasy about the destruction of Medieval stonework. 

So when Merlin dropped the drinks and shouldered his way through the crowd towards Arthur, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The screaming, the crashing of something big into the wall behind him, the horrible melee noise that meant someone was probably getting trampled... Well, at least no stained glass windows were hurt. 

Of course, none of this occurred to him in the moment. The prince was roughly where Merlin had left him, alone. If Merlin had stopped for even a second he might have noticed the way that the crowd seemed to flow around Arthur without more than jostling him, or the way the prince leant against a thin metal pillar like his legs wouldn't quite hold him. But if Merlin had stopped even for a second, he wouldn't have been able to catch the pillar as it fell. With a word muttered quietly out of habit in the deafening haze, it stopped to let Merlin grab Arthur's upper arm. The commotion at the other end of the room was growing dreadfully, and the room itself was nearly empty but for the two of them and the shrinking groups of people mobbing the exits. 

"Come on!" Merlin lifted Arthur from where he had slipped down the pillar. The second he had hauled the prince clear (and when had he forgotten how to walk, precisely?) he felt the ground move under them. Merlin kept his feet, and half-dragged Arthur toward the nearest door. He didn't even glance at whatever was wrecking the place. This was New York. They had a superhero team or something, didn't they? 

So it came to be that Merlin pushed Arthur into the car that had brought them to the damn party, climbed in beside him and was whisked off to safety.

It would have surprised and impressed Gaius, had he seen the way Merlin kept his head through what was undeniably a crisis. He would have been less impressed by what happened next. Morgana had escaped the room at the same moment Merlin had dropped the whiskies, and Merlin hadn't spared her another thought. As he settled back into the leather of the car's upholstery, though, he noticed a worrying lack of blue satin in the car. 

"Stop!" The driver ignored him. "We've left Lady Morgana! Stop the bloody car!" Merlin reached over to tap the man's shoulder. "Can you hear me? We have to go back!"

There was no response. The car turned left down a deserted street that definitely didn't lead to their hotel. Merlin reached a hand out as if to test the doors (which were locked), and hoped the angle of the mirrors would keep the driver from seeing his eyes. Before he could finish the first syllable of what he liked to think of as the "blow the bloody doors off" incantation, the silence was broken.

"I don't recommend that, sir." The driver was still looking straight ahead. "We're not far now, and I don't think your prince can walk back." 

That much was true. Arthur was breathing like a popped balloon and had fallen against the window in such a way that had there been any passers-by, they would have had an unrivalled view of the royal upper lip. The inside of the royal upper lip. There was no way that could be comfortable. Merlin let go of his door and shifted back to rearrange the prince. A few seconds later they were in what looked like a multi-storey car park, but had no other cars. What it did have was a middle-aged man in a suit.

The driver stopped the car and got out without another word. The other man approached the car.


	3. The Initiative

Phil Coulson was outwardly as calm as he always was; there were junior agents who said that a direct strike from a rocket wouldn't ruffle him. The future King of England was unconscious less than a hundred feet from where he stood, and that didn't matter. All of Coulson's focus was on the twenty-one year old who was in the car next to the prince. 

When McLeod left the car and then the building without so much as a glance at the scene behind, Coulson started walking. Had there been anything to worry about, if the target had shown violence or distress that might turn into violence, McLeod would have walked past Coulson rather than taken the side exit and the agent would have stayed where he was. They had some idea of powerful Merlin was, and they had no illusions about their ability to restrain him, but in the course of their research the SHEILD profilers had decided that curiosity might be one of his more powerful motivators. Since the building wasn't yet rubble, Coulson was optimistic about the chances of getting out of this alive. 

Coulson stopped when he was about ten feet from the car, on the opposite side to the prince. He waited. Minutes ticked past. 

He continued to wait. 

Eventually, he called out. "Mr Emrys." There was no response. 

Merlin sat frozen inside the car. Escape options. He could get in the front seat and just drive out of here. But the taxi-like construction of the car meant that he would have to get out and then back in, and that would mean leaving Arthur unattended. He could turn the engine on from here - a modified fire-lighting spell that he'd been working on that took 'ignition' less literally that its parent would do nicely - but steering would be near impossible. The man outside seemed in no hurry to attack them, if that was his intent. The afternoon had taken a bizarre turn that made him think that there was probably more to this than an overzealous interview hunter taking liberties, but Merlin was an optimist.

The rest of Arthur's security should be here by now. There was no way their absence hadn't been noticed, at least by... Yes! He could call Morgana. Brilliant. 

Merlin pulled his phone out. It had no signal, of course. Damn thing. 

The middle-aged man hadn't moved in more than a quarter of an hour. Merlin rolled down his window. 

"Can I help you?" His voice was far steadier than it had any right to be. 

"I would like to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative." Coulson didn't let his impatience into his voice. "Would you step out of the car?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that the tags have changed for this work. I don't know when I'll be getting to the parts of the story certain tags referred to, so rather than mislead readers searching those tags I thought it would be wiser to update them as they happen. Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic. Be gentle!


End file.
